Furious George

October 24, 2016
In his first book, Karl, a successful, well-traveled NBA head coach (most recently of the Sacramento Kings), writing with Sampson (The Masters), promises to settle old scores and get in the last word. Given his history of talking openly, this is a delightful promise—but his work soon proves annoying and guarded. There are highlights, such as his descriptions of what it’s like to coach a game and how his intensity for work isolated himself from his family, including his son. He examines his relationships with mentors such as Dean Smith to players they coached. He says Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony was a “conundrum” and a “user of people,” and his star player in Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins, “was the most disrespectful person I’ve ever been around,” but his criticism is more petty than revealing. Though Karl talks about how his 2010 diagnosis of throat and neck cancer changed his approach to work and diet, he mostly fails to address his own performance at his six NBA coaching stops—all of which ended on less than congenial terms. After a rocky, abbreviated stint in Sacramento, the 64-year-old Karl hints that he’d like to coach again. That may explain the frustrating honesty-with-limits approach employed here. Agent: Byrd Leavell, Waxman Leavell Literary.

November 1, 2016

Karl (b. 1951) provides a candid account of his career as a player and head coach in professional basketball. His philosophy of passionate, team-orientated play led him to over 1,100 wins as an NBA head coach with half a dozen teams, notably the Seattle Supersonics and the Denver Nuggets. This memoir recounts the difficulties of managing a team's competing egos as players vie for more playing time, exposure, and money. Karl also shares his criticisms of everything from NBA officiating to myopic owners that fire winning coaches to the work ethic and playing style of current players, especially his former players Carmelo Anthony and Demarcus Cousins. On a personal level, Karl provides insight into how the grind of an 82-game season contributed to the dissolution of his first marriage but created comradery between coaches over pregame rituals and late-night drinking. He describes the frustration of his coaching failures, in particular the sixth place finish of the U.S. team at the 2002 World Championships. Karl's bond with his son and his battle with cancer are softer moments that define this narrative. VERDICT This well-written memoir will interest basketball fans looking for a coaching counterpoint to Phil Jackson's Eleven Rings.--Chris Wilkes, Tazewell Cty. P.L., VA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2016
Karl, in his mid-sixties and fifth on the all-time NBA coaching wins list, has almost always fielded competitive teams that improved when he arrived and got worse when he left. He's also outspoken. If he thinks he's coached badly, he'll say so; if a star player doesn't play defense, he'll bench him. Honesty makes for a good memoir, and, not surprisingly, he delivers great anecdotes on life in the NBA, many of them lighthearted and self-deprecating. Beyond the basketball, Karl has come to grips with some hard truths. He was so focused on his career that he was a poor husband and father. Some of the clarity he displays here came to him during two bouts with cancer and through helping his son, Coby, through his own cancer diagnosis and treatment. Great NBA insider stuff, family advice, health tips, and unequivocal candor, all in one book. Expect considerable demand where NBA interest is high.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)